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Apart from solar being cheaper people don't consider the fact that electricity itself will also keep getting cheaper as price for solar keeps falling. It is go

Apart from solar being cheaper people don't consider the fact that electricity itself will also keep getting cheaper as price for solar keeps falling. It is going to change the world dramatically as the world electrifies because of it. As cost of production as well as the running cost for a lot of stuff will start dropping yearly. We are still few years from that point though as worlds yearly electricity usage growth has yet to be eclipsed by solar and wind annual capacity installations.

pjc50 3y ago
Electricity has got more expensive lately: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1267500/eu-monthly-wholesale-electricity-price-country/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1267500/eu-monthly-whole... People underestimate how cheap natural gas used to be; as a byproduct of oil drilling it can be nearly free, and in some place is just flared because it was too cheap to bother capturing. That all changed when the Russians attacked.
bityard 3y ago
Solar panels will get cheaper to buy due to the scale benefits of mass manufacturing, but that's about it. That only translates to cheaper electricity for those of us who can DIY their own solar setup. A standalone installation (not tied to the grid) is less flexible has a huge advantage in simplicity and is far cheaper. Otherwise, the cost of the panels is not the biggest cost in most solar installations. Anyone investing in solar has to pay for permits, workers, electricians, inspections, mounting and distribution equipment, etc, and these costs are relatively static, roughly tracking inflation. The payback on any decent-sized solar installation is still years or decades down the road, even if the panels themselves were given away for free. Where power companies successfully deploy solar to lower overall production costs (like mind does), I can promise you they are not at all incentivized to pass those savings back to the end users. Those profits go to shareholders, unless the regulators step in and demand otherwise.

pjc50 3y ago

Electricity has got more expensive lately: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1267500/eu-monthly-wholesale-electricity-price-country/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1267500/eu-monthly-whole... People underestimate how cheap natural gas used to be; as a byproduct of oil drilling it can be nearly free, and in some place is just flared because it was too cheap to bother capturing. That all changed when the Russians attacked.

bityard 3y ago

Solar panels will get cheaper to buy due to the scale benefits of mass manufacturing, but that's about it. That only translates to cheaper electricity for those of us who can DIY their own solar setup. A standalone installation (not tied to the grid) is less flexible has a huge advantage in simplicity and is far cheaper. Otherwise, the cost of the panels is not the biggest cost in most solar installations. Anyone investing in solar has to pay for permits, workers, electricians, inspections, mounting and distribution equipment, etc, and these costs are relatively static, roughly tracking inflation. The payback on any decent-sized solar installation is still years or decades down the road, even if the panels themselves were given away for free. Where power companies successfully deploy solar to lower overall production costs (like mind does), I can promise you they are not at all incentivized to pass those savings back to the end users. Those profits go to shareholders, unless the regulators step in and demand otherwise.